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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Check out this yummy cake photo that honors ombre for the latest Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger challenge! I thought it would be a perfect match for Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday challenge - LOVE this sketch! I used a heart border from MFT's Hearts and Stitches set and stamped it in 4 different shades of pink: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Melon Mambo to hopefully create an ombre effect. I popped that panel using foam tape, added a Melon Mambo flag and embellished with more die cuts - heart, leafy flourish and rolled roses. I sponged the heart and leafy flourish with Memories Unicorn pigment ink. Just as the butterfly is perched on the edge of the cake, I "perched" some dimensional roses on the leafy flourish.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Hi everyone! It's time for another Color Throwdown Challenge and our hostess, Lori, was inspired by this fun little book bag! Makes me want to go back to school again...NOT!! :-)

I immediately knew I wanted to play with this Fresh Cut Florals set with coordinating dies by W Plus 9. I used Karen Giron's sketch for her Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and tweaked it a bit by adding a DP base that peeked out on either side of the white panel.

Remember, you don't have to have the exact colors listed...just use something close. Be sure to use the keyword CTD257 when you post to a public gallery and you also want to link it up on the Color Throwdown blog.

For more inspiration, you'll want to check out the projects by the rest
of the design team...along with our August guest designer below. We have to say goodbye to Kendra as this month's guest designer, but wanted to thank her for sharing her wonderful creations with us! Stay tuned next Wednesday when we'll announce our September guestie!

I started with creating the plaid strip using MFT's Plaid Background Builder set. I used a distressing tool then sponged edges with Cajun Craze ink. A few enamel dots by MME completed it. The sentiment has a trip/journey theme and I thought the plaid represented road crossings.

Monday, August 26, 2013

It's the last Monday of the month and that means a circle or square Mojo Monday Challenge is on board! There are signs everywhere that summer is nearing the end and that means it will soon be time for frost on the pumpkins! This little trio of pumpkins is one of my fave fall images to color, so thought Julee's sketch would be perfect to spotlight it! My card is 5" square and uses papers from MME's Lost and Found "Halloween" 6x6 pad. I colored the image with Copics, fussy cut it and then popped it over the Classy Label die using foam tape. I struggled with whether to add sequins or not...as you can see, the sequins won, but I'm still not sure I should have added them.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Well, I lied. I DO have a card to post today - one that I created late last night after getting off work. This is for the CASE Study Challenge where we were to be inspired by this unique creation by Jennifer McGuire. It also uses the colors for the Colour Q Challenge. I admit I had a difficult time getting these strips to line up. I held them together on the back using scotch tape, thinking I had cut them all the same width, but had to trim them all again. Loved the subtle stamping that Jennifer used in the background. Mine turned out to be a bolder version using PTI's new Mum's the Word set which I am looking forward to using a lot for fall cards!

No card creations on the blog today, but do have a few more wedding photos to share! The photographer took these in downtown Lynchburg...

Always love seeing some of the pictures in this sepia tone!

It's a rainy Friday, but I have to venture out to buy a new wireless router. Grrrr...hate that the WiFi stopped working and not only do I have to buy a new router, but our cable company is requiring a $40 fee up front and then I have to pay $5.95 per month for technical support!! What the _ _ _ _? Sorry, but I'm really thinking technical support should be part of their customer service! I pay quite a hefty monthly sum already for cable and internet service. Enough ranting and off to find my umbrella! Have a happy Friday!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Jen has another great Deconstructed Sketch Challenge posted today! I'm also playing along with Splitcoaststampers' Ways to Use It Challenge to use beads. I love that this challenge "pushes" me to use some supplies that I've forgotten - in this case it's microbeads! I thought this sunflower - one of my fave images to color - would be perfect to add some brown beads to the center. I also added Glossy Accents to the little ladybug. The card base is a 5 1/2" textured pre-made card from a Recollections card and envelope set. I then cut the green panel in a 4 1/2" square and continued to layer and layer.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Happy Wednesday everyone! Joan has a really yummy color palette for this week's Color Throwdown Challenge! I'm really wishing there was a smellavision app for this photo!
Here's how I interpreted these great colors...

It's funny sometimes how a card evolves. I had stamped a 4x6" panel of plaid using Pale Plum, Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizzazz inks and thought I'd feature a larger plaid area...but...I also wanted to use this large MFT sentiment that fits in their die. I suddenly took a U turn and cut out the plaid using the same die, cut it in half and adhered it to both ends of the sentiment. The scalloped rose was die cut from vanilla CS, then I sponged the edges in Rich Razzleberry. The leaves were from my leftovers pile. Just realized I used 5 different dies from 3 different companies!

Remember, you don't have to have the exact colors listed...just use something close. Be sure to use the keyword CTD256 when you post to a public gallery and you also want to link it up on the Color Throwdown blog.

For more inspiration, you'll want to check out the projects by the rest
of the design team...along with our August guest designer below:

I'm not sure the girls will accept this as a CAS card, but I loved the colors anyway! Since my doily was pretty large for Karen's layout, I tweaked it a bit and created a square version instead of A2 and offset the circle. It's been awhile since I've colored with Copics, so I inked up one of Flourishes' new images from their Dahlias set. I fussy cut around it, but really need to order the cut file. Papers are from MME's Stella & Rose "Mabel" 6x6 pad. A few rhinestones and a couple of die cut flags (Die-Namics by MFT) finished off this card.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Joan has a really fun Technique Lovers' Challenge over on SCS today: freestyle design! It's simply choosing a variety of elements and textures and putting them together into a design that looks pleasing to the eye. One of my fave new SU sets from the new catalog is this Gorgeous Grunge set! I love the fine lines and splatter stamps which add such a cool effect to a background. I had a leftover open frame in my stash (using a Verve die) then started layering with a crocheted doily, some text leaves, primas, stick pins and ticket (which has a sentiment stamped from Verve's Small Phrases set). I adhered most of the items using Tombow Multi glue and glue dots. The stitched rectangle panel was popped using foam tape. The sentiment stamped on the ticket is from Verve's Small Phrases set.

I had a great lunch date with my daughter today! Weather was perfect to eat at a fun local restaurant, The Purple Foot, that has an outdoor patio with fountains and gorgeous landscaping! They have a wonderful wine (which explains the name of the restaurant) and gift shop, too, and we had to check that out. Didn't buy anything (yet) but there are a few things I've mentally put on my Christmas list for a certain daughter - lol! We had a lot of fun reading their menu with the greatest pita puns! I ordered quiche and salad which was so yummy! Check them out below...aren't they clever?!

After lunch I stopped at Michael's (that coupon was burning a hole in my pocket!). Bought some acrylic paints so I can play with my new Gelli printing plate I bought last week. I'll be posting some cards soon...or so I hope!

It's the third Monday in August already and for the local children in our county, it's their first day of school! It's also time for another great Mojo Monday challenge and Julee has really wowed us with a unique and fun sketch! I went with an unusual color combo for me, and pulled out the retired Sage Shadow ink pad and then paired it with Wisteria Wonder ink which rarely sees the light of day in my stamp room! I thought the colors blended in well with these papers from the "Fiddlesticks" 6x6 pad by My Mind's Eye. I can't seem to stop using my stitched dies from Lil' Inker Designs as well as sequins from my Avery Elle stash!

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Just had to play along with some of my fave challenges...AND wanted to join in the birthday party over at Lil' Inker Designs! Laura and company are celebrating the 3rd year of their business being in operation - congrats to everyone at LID! As you can see, I used three Lil' Inker dies: clouds, stitched circle and stitched rectangle. Love those stitched details! Of course, I had to use a birthday sentiment. Didn't use quite the rainbow set of colors as the inspiration photo included, but thought it was still a celebration theme going on!

This card was also inspired by Jennifer McGuire's card for the CASE Study Challenge this week. I chose the aqua and red colors, used a circle die to mimic the wreath element and kept it CAS with lots of white space as she did with her card.

I'm also playing along with Stacey's latest Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge that has a "carnival craze" theme. In my hometown in NE Ohio, they have a celebration which includes a small carnival inside the township and then there's a hot air balloon fest going on right outside the town. It's a glorious, colorful sight to see!

I couldn't stop with just 3 challenges! Had to also include Sarah's great Viva la Verve sketch for week 3 over on the Verve forum on SCS as the jumping point for my layout. You can see I did some tweaking - A2 instead of square; flipping the border to the left; using a circle instead of an oval. Hope I don't get kicked out of that gallery - lol!

I paper pieced the balloon and added some large black rhinestones. The one cloud was popped up using foam tape. I really go through that stuff...really need to buy stock in that company! :-)

Enough play time for now...need to head out to the grocery store - one of my least favorite chores of the week! Have a great Saturday everyone!

A late night (or guess I should say early morning) creation after getting off work. This is for the Free 4 All Challenge on SCS to use polka dots and it's also for Jen's Deconstructed Sketch Challenge. I paper pieced the elephant using lighter DP for his ears and popped his polka dotted head. The giraffe was stamped twice then I fussy cut the mouth and popped it with a tiny piece of foam tape. Love these fun papers from Echo Park's "Bundle of Joy" 6x6 pad! Stamps are from Verve's "To the Moon" set - one of my fave "go to" sets for baby cards! Thanks for stopping by...it's off to bed for me!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

There's another Color Throwdown challenge on board and Broni has a fun (and challenging for me!) color combo. I was inspired by a feature in Paper Crafts July/August 2013 edition and loved their section on freestyle collage. To quote the magazine...it's a "layered and eclectic approach to design, seemingly unrelated patterns, embellishments, and textures...often in an asymmetrical way. The combination may appear odd taken one element at a time, but put it all together, and collectively, somehow it sings." Well...not sure that my card is singing a very pretty song, but it sure was fun to put together - lol! I used multiple stamp sets and primarily stuck with an arrow/hexagon/sequin theme.

Remember, you don't have to have the exact colors listed...just use something close. Be sure to use the keyword CTD255 when you post to a public gallery and you also want to link it up on the Color Throwdown blog.

For more inspiration, you'll want to check out the projects by the rest of the design team...along with our August guest designer below:

Welcome to my blog...an online journal of my paper crafting hobby. When I'm not in my stamp room, I'm probably working at my full-time job as a rehabilitation RN. I'm so happy to have you visit my blog and I appreciate when you take time to comment!

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Color Throwdown Design Team

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MY SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS GALLERY

OCC: Watercolor for Card Makers

On an oily side note...

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Happy to be published! Pg. 66

Check out page 76 - I have another card published! Great issue for so many masculine card ideas!